INDIA in F1

Category: Racing

  • Pole for KY Ahamed, Anish Shetty; Ann Jennifer back in form

    Pole for KY Ahamed, Anish Shetty; Ann Jennifer back in form

    KY Ahamed, who qualified for pole position in the Pro-Stock 301-400 cc category on Friday. Photos by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 27 Sept 2019: TVS and Honda set up another mouth-watering wheel-to-wheel battle as they shared the qualifying honours in the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship at the MMRT, here today.

    KY Ahamed (01:53.674) led a 1-2 for TVS Racing in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc class along with Deepak Ravikumar (01:53.823) while Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing dominated the Pro-Stock 201-300cc category with Anish Shetty (01:57.646) and Abhishek Vasudev (01:58.281) occupying the top two spots on the grid for tomorrow’s race.

    In the popular Pro-Stock 165cc class, Honda and TVS set the tone for tomorrow’s qualifying and race. Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing, 01:59.790) was the quickest in the Free Practice session ahead of two TVS Racing riders, KY Ahamed (01:59.793) and seven-times National champion Jagan Kumar (02:00.121) while championship leader Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) was fourth in 02:00.702.

    In the Girls category, defending champion Ann Jennifer (Sparks Racing) clocked 02:11.902 in her flying lap to qualify for pole position ahead of Lani Zena Fernandez of Speed Demonz Racing (02:13.599) while championship leader Ryhana Bee (Sparks Racing) was fourth (02:14.212) behind Alisha Abdullah (Alisha Racing, 02:14.087).

    The qualifying session for the Novice (Stock 165cc) saw Abhimanyu Gautam (Sparks Racing), Manoy Y (Team Motomaniacz) and championship leader I Venkatesan (Team Motomaniacz) occupying the front row in that order for tomorrow’s race that will see a massive 40-bike grid. The qualifying session was run in two batches in view of the large number of entries.

    AISHWARYA PISSAY FELICITATED

    The FMSCI, governing body for motorsport in India, and the Madras Motor Sports Club, felicitated Aishwarya Pissay, winner of the FIM Baja World Cup (women’s category). Sita Raina, Chairperson, Women in Motorsport, Fmsci, and Manoj Dalal, Secretary, MMSC, presented mementos to Aishwarya.

    The FMSCI also organised a workshop on fitness for women riders competing in the ongoing National Motorcycle Racing Championship, with Manav Mukund, Director, Strength and Conditioning, Sports Dynamix, making a presentation on fitness.

  • Double points for last round keep Championship stakes wide open: Bike Nationals

    Double points for last round keep Championship stakes wide open: Bike Nationals

    File photo of Sarath Kumar by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 26 Sept 2019: The MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2019 is set for a grand climax at the MMRT this weekend that will witness as many as 18 races and edge-of-the-seat, high-stakes battles for titles across all categories. With double points being awarded for this fifth and final round, there is everything to ride for, especially for the front-runners.

    The National Championship, comprising Pro-Stock category (200-300cc, 301-400cc and 165cc) which will no doubt headline the weekend, Novice (Stock 165cc) and Girls (Stock 165cc), are all set for close finishes with not much separating the top riders on the leaderboard, in terms of points. For the manufacturers – TVS, Honda, Yamaha and KTM – there is plenty to gain from this weekend.

    The situation is much the same in the TVS One-Make Championship that has three categories in Open (RR 310), Novice and Girls (RTR 200), and also the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup – NSF 250R (FIM Moto3-spec) and CBR 150 (Novice). Both TVS and Honda have invested time and effort in plenty to identify and develop young talent that has turned out in good numbers from across country.

    MMSC president Ajit Thomas said: “This being the final round of the season, we again would like to extend our sincere thanks to our title sponsors MRF Tyres who, for the first time supplied slick tyres for Pro-Stock categories, besides India’s top two-wheeler manufacturers TVS, Honda, Yamaha and KTM who have been associated with us in our constant endeavour to nurture and develop talent. The ever-increasing number of entries, especially in the Novice category, is a testimony to growing popularity of the sport. The Madras Motor Sports Club too has evolved in providing and upgrading infrastructure and technology at considerable expense with focus on safety and comfort at the MMRT circuit.”

    Predicting close races, Race Director Manoj Dalal, said: “This weekend, we look forward close competition, that has been a feature through the year, with the championship titles up for grabs. The season has also seen intense rivalry between riders, teams and manufacturers like never before. In a bid to inject more interest and competition, we decided to double the points across all National Championship categories for the this (final) round. Hence, we are in this exciting situation where every title, be it individual or team, is wide open, and we expect extremely competitive races.”

    About Madras Motor Sports Club

    Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved from Sholavaram to its present location in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.

  • Achintya Mehrotra hogs limelight for India at AAGC Korea

    Achintya Mehrotra hogs limelight for India at AAGC Korea

    Bengaluru, 24 Sept 2019: Ace Indian driver Achintya Mehrotra brought laurels to the country winning a podium place in the second round of the Asia Auto Gymkhana Championship hosted at the InjeSpeedium Circuit in South Korea that concluded on the first Sunday of September.

    Achintya file photo at India AAGC 2018

    The Delhi-based driver won the bronze in the Solo Knockout competition after qualifying third and also helped Team India to finish fourth in the team events which saw 9 teams take part including the two teams fielded by the host. Team India was represented by Achintya Mehrotra, Sahil Khanna and woman driver Khyati Mody. The other top teams included Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines and all the teams used the official car Kia K3 GT, a 1.6 Turbo GDI, pumping 204 HP with a 275 NM torque and a 7-Speed DCT.

    On August 30, the first day of the event started off with the scrutiny and usual administration checks and issuing the driver ID cards while the Driver Briefing was on Aug 31 at the InjeSpeedium Classic Car Museum auditorium. The competitors also got the start order and the competition track patterns.

    There were a total of 4 track patterns:

    • Pattern A – Solo Qualifying
    • Pattern B – Solo Knockout
    • Pattern C – Double Qualifying & Knockouts
    • Pattern D – Team Knockouts

    The event used twin tracks. Solo qualifying had the drivers drive on both lanes (A & B). The best of both times decided the qualifying order.

    This year saw the most competitive battle with the top 5 drivers within 0.1s. Achintya Mehrotra from Team India qualified in 3rd  place with Sahil Khanna in 14th place &KhyatiMody in 22nd place out of 27 drivers from all the 9 teams. The cumulative of qualifying times of the 3 drivers served as the overall qualifying time for teams. Thus Team India qualified overall 2nd out of 8 countries.

    Achintya Mehrotra in action in Korea 2019

    The next session was the Double qualifying wherein two drivers go behind each other. The time starts when the first driver cuts the beam at the start while the time stops when the driver behind cuts the beam at finish. The drivers change positions at the last corner just before the finish. Team India qualified in last position owing to a wrong penalty being given by the marshal. In the double knockouts, India went head to head against Philippines to which they lost.

    The final day of the event – 1st September started off with the Solo Knockouts. Sahil Khanna was lined up against Taiwan’s driver to whom he lost owing to course deviation &so did KhyatiMody who was lined up against the Singapore driver Jeremy Low.

    Meanwhile, Achintya Mehrotra beat the Philippines driver to advance into the next round of knockouts. The next round of solo knockouts had Achintya lined up against Korea’s lady driver whom he won against as the Korean driver got a 2 min course deviation penalty.

    The next knockout was up against driver of Team Thailand who was unlucky against Team India driver Achintya.

    Finally, Achintya was lined up against Team Taiwan driver who proved to be faster than him. Eventually, Achintya came 3rd for Team India in the solo knockouts.

    Solo podium for Achintya Mehrotra in Individual events. India won 4th place in team event.

    The final session was the Team event wherein driver 1, driver 2; driver 3 of Team A goes head to head with driver 1, driver 2 ; driver 3 of Team B.  On every win, each team is awarded with 2 points. The first team to get 4 points advances to the next round of knockouts.

    India was lined up against Singapore whom they beat in all the 3 rounds and advanced into the top 4 shootout. The next team was Team Thailand who beat us by 4 points to 2 points.

    Our final race of the day was against Team Taiwan for the 3rd place position in the Team round. However, that also didn’t as planned & Team India had to settle for 4th Place.

    Final results : –

    Solo Qualifying – Achintya Mehrotra (P3)

    Solo Knockouts – Achintya Mehrotra (P3)

    Team Result – Team India (P4)

    Indian team gets overall fourth and a podium as the first four get on to the podium in Asian Gymkhana events.
  • Advait Deodhar still in contention for top-3 finish after Hockenheim round

    Advait Deodhar still in contention for top-3 finish after Hockenheim round

    Advait Deodhar, right, at Hockenheim ring on Sunday. An INDIAinF1 image

    Hockenheim, 23 Sept. 2019: Indian racing driver Advait Deodhar is still in contention for top-3 finish in the 2019 Euro Nascar Championship despite his race-weekend ending on unexpected lines here at the Hockenheim ring for the penultimate round on Sunday.

    In Race 1, Advait bent his steering arm after an unavoidable crash in front of him as too was forced to collide with another two cars and ended up 10th. In Race 2, he bagan 10th but could onoy manage a P7.

    In Race 1, after a fantastic start, Advait was caught in an accident at the exit of the first corner; with no way to avoid the crash that took place in front of him. Then, he collided with Vittorio Ghirelli’s and Andre Castro’s cars. It was a bit of bad luck, but then he was lucky enough to have been able to continue albeit with a bent steering arm. After dropping down to 22nd, the Indian managed to fight his way back up and finished a commendable 10th despite the bent steering arm.

    Earlier, with a quick lap in the early bit of qualifying he made it into Superpole (top 12 shootout, similar to Q3 in F1) but beyond that he only managed to qualify 7th. After looking at the data, he is quite convinced that he could have put in a lap that was much better and possibly qualified in the top 4, but alas that did not happen.

    In Race 2,  starting 10th, Advait was focussed to finish in the top 5. “The car felt good in the warm up that morning and we definitely had the pace. However, 2 safety cars and an intense battle with Championship contender Nicholas Risitano kept me at a steady P7,” he quipped.

    “It could have definitely been a better weekend, but I’m glad to have been able to limit the damage to my Championship standing and still be in contention for P3 in the season, with an outside chance for P1 or P2,” he concluded.

    The final round in Zolder is October 6 and Advait is making all efforts to finish the 2019 European Nascar Championship in top-3.

  • Raghul Rangasamy, Dhruv Mohite, Ritwik Thomas, Jeet Jhabahak 2019 champions

    Raghul Rangasamy, Dhruv Mohite, Ritwik Thomas, Jeet Jhabahak 2019 champions

    Chennai, 15 Sept 2019: Friday, the 13th hit Sohil Shah hard as he lost a huge lead to the man from the temple town of Mahabalipuram, Raghul Rangasamy. On Sunday, Raghul kept his wits about him to retain the title in the MRF F1600 category  edging out Shah in the last round, as did Kolhapur’s Dhruv Shivaji Mohite in the Indian Touring Cars class, who too put paid to the hopes of Arjun Balu, on the concluding day of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship here at the MMRT circuit.

    Also winning the National titles in their respective categories were Rithvik Thomas, the 26-year old from Bengaluru (Super Stock), Chennai’s Ashwin Datta (Formula LGB 1300) who had sealed the title yesterday itself, Hyderabad’s Jeet Jhabakh (Ameo Class) and Aiman Sadat (Bangladesh, Ameo Class Junior).

    Rangasamy, 26, thus, earned a sponsored drive from MRF Tyres in one round of the Civic Cup Racing Championship in the United Kingdom. Although he finished fifth in the last race, he picked up sufficient points to annex the title for the second year in a row while finishing a highly productive weekend when he earned as many as 138 points.

    “I am thrilled at this opportunity to race abroad and thank MRF for this opportunity which came as a pleasant surprise for me. As for this weekend, I came in trailing Sohil Shah by 43 points after a poor start to the season and was determined to win as many races as possible. Friday, when I picked up 68 points, gave me a huge boost. Overall, I am happy at the way the season ended after such a sluggish start that I had in the summer,” said Rangasamy had started weekend in seventh position on the leaderboard.

    With the ITC championship hanging in balance, the focus was on leader Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) who led Rayo Racing’s Mohite by four points. However, the reverse grid put paid to Balu’s aspirations as he started ninth while Mohite occupied P6. As the 10-lap race unfolded, it went topsy-turvy with septuagenarian D Vidyaprakash making two places to take the lead before he was overhauled by the faster Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports) and the Ventos of Mohite and Karthik Tharani while Balu made a few spots but got stuck behind Daniel Rowe, the South African guest driver.

    Jeet Jhabakh, winner of the Ameo Class championship. Photos by Anand Philar

    Eventually, Narendran, a former National champion and taking part in this round as a non-registered driver (not eligible for championship points) won by the proverbial country mile, followed by Mohite, Tharani, Daniel Rowe, the South African guest driver and Balu.

    Mohite, winner of three National karting titles and the Volkswagen Ameo Cup last year, said: “It feels great to win the Touring Cars championship. It has been a great experience to race with some of the legends of Indian racing. My thanks to the Volkswagen team for the support they provided and my championship win is due to this wonderful team effort. So far, it has been a great journey for me, from karting to the Ameo Cup, but winning the Touring Cars title tops it all. Coming into this weekend, I knew it would be tough going, but the unfortunate retirement of Arjun Balu yesterday turned everything in my favour.”

    Rithvik Thomas, winner of the title in the Super Stock category.

    Rithvik Thomas, 26, said: “Yes, obviously, winning the Super Stock championship is a great feeling, but I would have enjoyed the success more if there had been a tight fight right up to the final race. Coming here, I was hoping that it would be so, but I will take this title anyway.”

    Jhabakh, the 26-year old businessman for whom racing is a hobby, had not entertained any hopes of winning the championship. “I did not have the best of starts to the season, and so decided to enjoy myself rather than worry about points. I am thrilled to win the title and my thanks to the entire Volkswagen team which is like a family to me, for the support I received from them,” said Jhabakh.

    Provisional results (all 8 laps): MRF F1600 (Race-3): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram) (13:27.614); 2. Yash Aradhya (Bengaluru) (13:32.277); 3. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (13:33.707).

    Race-4: 1. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (13:43.620); 2. Nirmal Umashankar (Chennai) (13:43.763); 3. Manav Sharma (Faridabad) (13:45.136).

    Indian Touring Cars (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports) (18:56.842); 2.Dhruv Shivaji Mohite (Rayo Racing) (19:16.864); 3. Karthik Tharani (Rayo Racing) (19:17.401).

    Super Stock (Race-1, 7 laps): 1. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) (14:10.391); 2. Sudanand Daniel (Race Concepts) (14:16.329); 3. Archit Mylanda (Race Concepts) (14:44.876). Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Rithvik Thomas (20:18.368); 2. Sudanand Daniel (20:30.084); 3. R Raja Shekar (Race Concepts) (20:51.372).

    Formula LGB 1300 (Race-2): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (Momentum Motorsports) (15:34.910); 2. Tijil Rao (Momentum Motorsports) (15:37.407); 3. Arya Singh (DTS Racing) (15:40.848).

    Volkswagen Ameo Class (Race-2): 1. Anmol Singh Sahil (Delhi) (15:43.297); 2.Jeeth Jhabakh (Hyderabad) (15:44.294); 3. Tasmin Peper (South Africa) (15:44.692).

    Race-3: 1. Tasmin Peper (South Africa) (15:30.299); 2. Jeffrey Kruger (South Africa) (15:30.612); 3. Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad) (15:46.550).

    National Championship winners:

    MRF F1600: – Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram).

    Indian Touring Cars – Driver: Dhruv Shivaji Mohite (Kolhapur, Rayo Racing). Team: Race Concepts (Bengaluru).

    Super Stock – Driver: Rithvik Thomas (Bengaluru, Race Concepts). Team: Race Concepts (Bengaluru).

    Formula LGB 1300 – Driver: Ashwin Datta (Chennai, Momentum Motorsports). Team: Momentum Motorsports (Chennai).

    Volkswagen Ameo Class: Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad) and Aiman Sadat (Bangladesh, Junior).

     

  • Ashwin Datta crowned Formula LGB 1300 National Champion with a race to spare

    Ashwin Datta crowned Formula LGB 1300 National Champion with a race to spare


    Ashwin Datta who sealed the championship in the Formula LGB 1300 category on Saturday. Photos by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 14 Sept 2019: A second-place finish saw Ashwin Datta of Momentum Motorsport emerge champion in the Formula LGB 1300 category with a race to spare in the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship at the MMRT, here today.

    On a day of hectic scramble for points, Mamallapuram’s Raghul Rangasamy eked out a two-point lead over Bengaluru teenager Sohil Shah in the premier MRF F1600 category with a win and a fifth-place finish in the two races run today. Faridabad’s Manav Sharma was the other winner. With two more races to be run tomorrow, Rangasamy has 142 points to Shah’s 140 while Mumbai’s Nayan Chatterjee (121) is placed third.

    Likewise, in the popular Indian Touring Cars category, Dhruv Mohite (Rayo Racing), driving the Volkswagen factory-supported Vento, moved within four points of leader Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) who retired in today’s race due to a freak incident (tyre deflation) in the very first lap. Mohite went on to finish second behind Volkswagen guest driver Daniel Rowe (South Africa), but earned full quota of 25 points. Balu has 148 points as against Mohite’s 144 going into tomorrow’s final race which will be have a reverse-grid start.

    Pole-sitter Balu (Race Concepts) pulled out a good lead in the very first lap, but lost the power-steering by Turn-3 when the belt came off. Soon after, the power-steering pulley fell and hit the rim of the left rear tyre leading to deflation and retirement. Up ahead, Rowe and team-mate Mohite, and former National champion Arjun Narendran (Arka Motorsports), a non-registered driver, were involved in a three-way battle. The trio finished the race in that order.

    Datta, who turns 21 in November, needed just one point to seal the championship going into this weekend and he managed to come in second behind team-mate Deepak Ravikumar and ahead of Mohamed Ryan (M Sport) in the eight-lap race that was run behind a Safety Car in the mid phase due to on-track incidents involving three cars.

    The result took Datta’s tally to 163 points, well clear of Sohil Shah (M Sport, 95) who opted not to race in this category and concentrate on his races in the MRF F1600 class. Lying third in the championship is Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport, 85).

    “It feels great to win the championship with one race to spare. I had a good race today, starting from 11th position as I could not post a time in the qualifying session due to some problems with my car. After about three laps, three cars in front of me, went off the track and later, myself and Mohit Aryan were dicing for first and second. However, both of us went off the track under late braking in the last lap. In the process, Deepak Ravikumar capitalised and won the race ahead of me,” said Datta.


    Manav Sharma (No.17), winner of Race-2 in the MRF Formula 1600 Class.

    Mumbai’s Saurav Bandyopadhyay, following a third-place finish behind two South African Guest drivers, Jeffrey Kruger and Tasmin Peper in the Volkswagen Ameo Class race, maintained his top spot on the leaderboard with 357 points, ahead of Pratik Sonawane (334) from Pune and Hyderabad’s Jeet Jhabakh (328) with two more races to be run tomorrow.

    The results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):

    MRF F1600 (Race-1): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram) (13mins, 29.135secs); 2. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (13:30.653); 3. Yash Aradhya (Bengaluru) (13:34.392).

    Race-2 (7 laps): 1.Manav Sharma (Faridabad) (14:48.254); 2. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (14:48.848); 3. Vishnu Prasad (Chennai) (14:48.857).

    Indian Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Daniel Rowe (South Africa) (15:25.637); 2. Dhruv Shivaji Mohite (Kolhapur) (15:27.894); 3. Arjun Narendran (Coimbatore) (15:28.264).

    Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (Momentum Motorsport) (18:56.445); 2. Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motorsport) (18:57.279); 3. Mohamed Ryan (M Sport) (18:57.770).

    Volkswagen Ameo Class (Race-1): 1. Jeffrey Kruger (South Africa) (15:36.052); 2. Tasmin Peper (South Africa) (15:38.620); 3. Saurav Bandyopadhyay (Mumbai) (15:39.554).

  • Double for Raghul Rangasamy; Chirag Ghorpade, Saurav Bandyopadhyay grab pole

    Double for Raghul Rangasamy; Chirag Ghorpade, Saurav Bandyopadhyay grab pole


    Raghul Rangasamy celebrating his victory in the MRF F1600 category. Photos by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 13 Sept 2019: Defending champion Raghul Rangasamy, hailing from the nearby temple town of Mamallapuram, pulled off a grand double to put himself in contention for the title in the premier MRF F1600 category on the opening day of the fifth and final round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship at the MMRT, here today.

    Rangasamy, 26, shrugged off an otherwise inconsistent season so far, and won two of the three races today that were carried over from the rain-affected Round 4, besides finishing second behind Bengaluru’s Yash Aradhya in the other outing to pick up as many as 68 points.

    Raghul Rangasamy, who scored a double in the MRF F1600 category on Friday.

    Rangasamy thus jumped five spots to move from seventh to second on the leaderboard. He lies just seven points behind championship leader 18-year old Sohil Shah from Bengaluru who drew blank in today’s Race-3 due to a drive-shaft problem after finishing second and third in the other two races.

    With four races of the final round to be run over the next two days and a maximum of 100 points to be won, the championship is finely poised. Shah (114 points), Rangasamy (107) and Nayan Chatterjee (97) occupy the top three spots. Behind the trio are Aradhya (86), Vishnu Prasad (85) from Chennai and Faridabad’s Manav Sharma (70).

    In the day’s first race, Aradhya scripted a lights-to-flag victory with seasoned Rangasamy in close attendance while Shah did well to finish third after starting eighth on the grid. Rangasamy then took charge of the remaining two races that he started from pole position, winning both quite comfortably.

    Yash Aradhya, winner of first race in MRF F1600 category.

    Meanwhile, Bengaluru’s Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsports) qualified for pole position in the Formula LGB 1300 category where Chennai-based Ashwin Datta has virtually clinched the title, enjoying a 50-point lead going into this weekend’s double header. Datta’s closest rival, Sohil Shah, opted out of the two races, preferring to focus on the MRF F1600 championship which he leads.

    Mumbai’s Saurav Bandyopadhyay took pole position in the Volkswagen Ameo Class ahead of two guest drivers from South Africa, Tasmin Peper and Jeffrey Kruger. Bandyopadhyay currently leads the championship in this category.

    The results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):

    MRF F1600 (Carry Over from Round 4) (Race-2): 1. Yash Aradhya (Bengaluru) (13mins, 33.380secs); 2. Raghul Rangasamy (Mamallapuram) (13:33.616); 3. Sohil Shah (Bengaluru) (13:39.154). Race-3: 1. Raghul Rangasamy (13:31.752); 2. Sohil Shah (13:33.747); 3. Vishnu Prasad (Chennai) (13:37.234). Race-4: Raghul Rangasamy (13:29.886); 3. Nayan Chatterjee (Mumbai) (13:35.915); 3. Yash Aradhya (13:37.252).

  • Final round to decide champions; 7 MRF F1600 races on card

    Chennai, 12 Sept 2019: The MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship is set for a thrilling climax as the fifth and final round gets underway at the MMRT here on Friday, September 13, with titles in all the categories up for grabs and not much separating the main contenders in terms of points.

    The card for the final round has a total of 14 races. The premier MRF F1600 category will have a total of seven races, including three carried over from the rain-affected Round 4 last month. That apart, it will be double-headers in the saloon cars and Formula LGB 1300 categories, besides three races slated for the Volkswagen Ameo Class.

    With titles in all these categories still to be decided, the weekend is expected to dish out edge-of-the-seat thrillers that have been a feature of the championship thus far.

    Chairman of the Meet Vicky Chandhok said: “Through the season, we have witnessed high quality racing in all the categories and has thrown up fresh talent, especially in the MRF F1600 and saloon cars. We take this opportunity to thank our sponsors MRF Tyres who have responded to every demand of ours and those of the competitors to provide slick tyres that in turn have taken racing to the next level. MMSC have some major plans for the coming seasons as we continue our endeavour to promote the sport and help nurture talent. The final round, this weekend, should provide a fitting climax to the season.”

    The MRF F1600 grid is packed with a bunch of talented youngsters who have progressed from karting to single-seaters with a series of impressive performances.

    Leading the pack is Bengaluru’s 18-year old Sohil Shah with 83 points after having won three consecutive races. Enjoying a “gap year” after school, Sohil has an 18-point cushion on second-placed Nayan Chatterjee from Mumbai with Chennai’s Vishnu Prasad (58) and Sandeep Kumar (56), and Coimbatore’s A Bala Prasath (55) not far behind.

    The two classes in the saloon cars category – the Indian Touring Cars (ITC) and Super Stock – are also finely poised for a close finish. Coimbatore veteran Arjun Balu (148 points), driving the Race Concepts-prepared Honda City Vtec, comfortably leads Kolhapur’s Dhruv Shivaji Mohite (119) who is one of the three Volkswagen factory-supported Vento drivers. Another Coimbatore challenger, Nikanth Ram (Arka Motorsport) is placed third with 93 points, ahead of VW duo of Karthik Tharani (86) from Chennai and Hyderabad’s Ishaan Dodhiwala (85). Balu has won three races as against two each by Mohite and Tharani while Dodhiwala has scored maximum points in one outing.

    Bengaluru’s Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts) and local lad RP Raja Rajan (Performance Racing) will be going head-to-head for the title in the Super Stock category with just 17 points separating the two. Thomas leads with 172 points to Rajan’s 155, both having won four races apiece.

    Chennai’s 20-year old Ashwin Datta (Momentum Motor Sports) is best placed to seal the championship in the Formula LGB 1300 as he leads Sohil Shah (M Sport) by 50 points, needing just one point from this weekend’s two races to annex the championship in this category.

    In the VW Ameo Class, the top four – Saurav Bandyopadhyay (Mumbai, 305 points), Siddharth Mehdiratta (Lucknow, 298), Pratik Sonawane (Pune, 294) and Jeet Jhabakh (Hyderabad, 284) – are bunched close together.

    About Madras Motor Sports Club

    Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved from Sholavaram to its present location in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.

  • Ahamed leads 1-2-3 finish for TVS; Anish Shetty heads Honda podium sweep

    Ahamed leads 1-2-3 finish for TVS; Anish Shetty heads Honda podium sweep


    Rajiv Sethu (No.80) en route Pro-Stock 165cc win. Photos by Anand Philar

    Chennai, 8 Sept 2019: KY Ahamed led a podium sweep for TVS Racing in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc category while Anish Shetty spearheaded a 1-2-3 finish for Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing while notching his fifth consecutive win in the Pro-Stock 201-300cc class as the fourth round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship concluded at the MMRT, here today.

    Earlier, international rider Rajiv Sethu continued his win-spree in the popular Pro-Stock 165cc category after overcoming a poor start as Idemitsu Honda Ten10 team swept all the podium spots. For 21-year old Chennai-based Sethu, it was his sixth win in a row.


    A 1-2-3 for Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing in Pro-Stock 165cc class – winner Raiv Sethu (centre), 2nd placed Sarath Kumar (left) and third-placed Kevin Kannan on Sunday.

    Also continuing his golden run was Venkatesan I in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category as he headed a 1-2 finish for Team Moto Maniacz Racing with Manoj Y in tow. For the Chennai-based Venkatesan, it was his fourth win on the trot.

    Meanwhile, Ryhana Bee, the 22-year old from Chennai, notched her third consecutive win in the Girls category of the National Championship to give herself a 35-point lead over defending champion and Sparks Racing team-mate Ann Jennifer who finished second ahead of Alisha Abdullah (Alishaa Racing).

    The podium sweep in the 301-400cc category that Ahamed scripted provided a big cheer for TVS Racing on a weekend dominated by arch-rivals Honda. Ahamed managed to finish ahead of his mentor and former seven-times National champion Jagan Kumar who finally picked up his first points this weekend after failing to finish Race-1 and retiring in both the Pro-Stock 165cc races he had taken part. Championship leader in this category, Deepak Ravikumar came in third.

    Podium sweep for TVS Racing in Pro-Stock 301-400cc class – winner KY Ahamed (centre), 2nd placed Jagan Kumar (left) and third-placed Deepak Ravikumar.

    Sethu, starting from pole position, had another poor start due to electrical problems, but he recovered quickly to tuck in behind Sarath Kumar even as two key TVS Racing rivals, Jagan Kumar and KY Ahamed, retired due to engine problems. Sethu and Sarath exchanged lead until the last lap when the former moved to the front for his sixth consecutive win. Sarath was content to follow home in second place while team-mate Kevin Kannan crossed the finish line in third position for his maiden podium of the season.

    Meanwhile, 15-year old Md Mikail, riding the FIM Moto3-spec NSF 250R in the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup one-make championship organised by MMSC, completed a treble this weekend as he zipped to his fifth consecutive win and sixth in seven starts.


    Ryhana Bee, winner of the Girls’ race

    The fifth and final round of the championship will be held at the same venue from September 27 to 29.

    The results (Provisional, all 8 laps unless mentioned):

    National Championship:

    Pro-Stock 301-400cc (Race-2): 1. KY Ahamed (TVS Racing) (15mins, 29secs); 2. Jagan Kumar (TVS Racing) (15:30.137); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (15:31.307).

    Pro-Stock 201-300cc (Race-2): 1. Anish Shetty (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing); Abhishek Vasudev (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (16:10.234); 3. Aravind Balakrishnan (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (16:20.165).

    Pro-Stock 165cc (Race-2): 1. Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (16:04.365); 2. Sarath Kumar (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (16:04.708); 3. Kevin Kannan (Idemitsu Honda Ten10 Racing) (16:17.731).

    Novice (Stock 165cc, Race-2, 6 laps): 1. Venkatesan I (Motomaniacz Racing) (13:15.876); 2. Manoj Y (Motomaniacz Racing) (13:16.699); 3. Abhimanyu Gautam (Sparks Racing) (13:17.100).

    Girls (Stock 165cc, 5 laps): 1. Ryhana Bee (Sparks Racing) (11:10.964); 2. Ann Jennifer AS (Sparks Racing) (11:14.255); 3. Alisha Abdullah (Alishaa Racing) (11:24.427).

    One-Make Championship organised by MMSC:

    TVS Open (RR 310, Race-2): 1. Anand R (Chennai) (15:56.926); 2. Vivek Pillai (Chennai) (15:58.525); 3. Anup Kumar (16:00.556). Novice (RTR 200, Race-2, 6 laps): 1. Venkatesan I (Chennai) (13:19.642); 2. Manoj Y (Chennai) (13:19.928); 3. Alwin Sundar (Chennai) (13:20.311).

    Idemitsu Honda Talent Cup – NSF 250R (Race-3): 1. Md Mikail (Chennai) (14:38.263); 2. Geoffrey Emmanuel (Chennai) (14:49.888); 3. Kritik Vasant Habib (Gadag) (14:50.114). CBR 150 (Race-2, 6 laps): 1. Lal Nunsanga (Aizwal) (13:13.907); 2.Samuel Martin (Bengaluru) (13:15.559); 3. S Rajsaswanth (Trichy) (13:15.960).

  • Terrific Tsunoda soars to first F3 win in Monza: F3

    Terrific Tsunoda soars to first F3 win in Monza: F3

    Jenzer driver tops Race 2 podium ahead of Lawson and Hughes
    From left: 2nd placed Liam, winner Yuki and 3rd-placed Jake. An FIA F3 image

    Monza, 8 Sept 2019: Yuki Tsunoda completed his remarkable upturn of form in Monza, with his, and his team’s first ever win in the FIA Formula 3 Championship. The Jenzer Motorsport driver romped to a third podium in as many races, after a lengthy battle with Jake Hughes, which ended in him finishing ahead of Liam Lawson in second and the HWA RACELAB driver in third.

    The Japanese driver’s victory marked a successful weekend for Honda Dream drivers, matching his F2 counterpart Nobuharu Matsushita, who won in yesterday’s Feature Race. The feat earns him his seventh points’ finish in a row, having scored just two of them in the first seven of the campaign.
    The track was damp from overnight showers and the cars started against a shower of spray, but this didn’t stop Jake Hughes from bolting off the line, as the HWA RACELAB man lunged down the left of polesitter Fabio Scherer and into the lead. Behind him, Tsunoda had started his march from sixth and leapt to third at the first turn.
    The Japenese driver pulled off a similar move for second on the next tour of the track. He had Hughes in his sights, but the duo both went wide at Turn 4 as they battled with the greasy track surface. They then collided at the following corner, as Tsunoda’s front wing scraped the back of Hughes’ rear tyre, but luckily they avoided any damage.
    Former leader Scherer was struggling to keep Lawson at bay behind him, as the Kiwi eyed his second podium of the season. Less than a second separated the Swiss driver in third, with Leonardo Pulcini in sixth. Space opened up down the side of Scherer and the Red Bull F1 junior took a tow and slipstreamed down the right of him.
    Hughes and Tsunoda had begun to pull away from those behind them, collecting a 3s gap, but the battle between the two remained on-going. The Jenzer driver got close enough to gain the advantage of DRS and flashed past the Brit for the lead.
    Hughes fought back and went side-by-side with Tsunoda around the outside of Parabolica, but the Japanese driver out-braked him and retained P1. Their drawn out fight for first handed Lawson a shot at P2 and the MP Motorsport man began to attack the back of Hughes. The duo went side-by-side down the pit straight, and with the aid of DRS, and the inside line, the Kiwi completed the move and made it stick at Turn 1.
    Tsunoda ran home cleanly at the chequered flag and was followed by Lawson and Hughes in the top three, as Richard Verschoor and Pedro Piquet completed the front five. The final points’ positions went to Pulcini, Scherer and Robert Shwartzman.
    The Russian’s P8 finish hands him an extra point in the Championship and marginally stretches his lead to 33 points, ahead of Jehan Daruvala on 147 points. Jüri Vips remains third on 122 and Marcus Armstrong on 119. In the Teams’ standings, Champions PREMA Racing lead with 446, ahead of Hitech Grand Prix on 188, ART Grand Prix on 174, Trident on 105 and HWA RACELAB on 84.
    Shwartzman holds the cards heading into the season finale, at his home race in Sochi, Russia, at the end of September.
    2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship Round 7 – Race 2 provisional classification
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    1
    Yuki Tsunoda
    Jenzer Motorsport
    2
    Liam Lawson
    MP Motorsport
    3
    Jake Hughes
    HWA RACELAB
    4
    Richard Verschoor
    MP Motorsport
    5
    Pedro Piquet
    Trident
    6
    Leonardo Pulcini
    Hitech Grand Prix
    7
    Fabio Scherer
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    8
    Robert Shwartzman
    PREMA Racing
    9
    Christian Lundgaard
    ART Grand Prix
    10
    Logan Sargeant
    Carlin Buzz Racing
    11
    Juri Vips
    Hitech Grand Prix
    12
    Felipe Drugovich
    Carlin Buzz Racing
    13
    Jehan Daruvala
    PREMA Racing
    14
    Marcus Armstrong
    PREMA Racing
    15
    Niko Kari
    Trident
    16
    Devlin Defrancesco
    Trident
    17
    Raoul Hyman
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    18
    Lirim Zendeli
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    19
    Ye Yifei
    Hitech Grand Prix
    20
    Simo Laaksonen
    MP Motorsport
    21
    Max Fewtrell
    ART Grand Prix
    22
    Keyvan Andres
    HWA RACELAB
    23
    Giorgio Carrara
    Jenzer Motorsport
    24
    Andreas Estner
    Jenzer Motorsport
    25
    Alessio Deledda
    Campos Racing
    26
    Sebastian Fernandez
    Campos Racing
    27
    Bent Viscaal
    HWA RACELAB
    28
    David Beckmann
    ART Grand Prix
    29
    Teppei Natori
    Carlin Buzz Racing
    OVERALL FASTEST LAP
    Juri Vips (Hitech Grand Prix) – 1:48.890 on Lap 20
    FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
    Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport) – 1:49.580 on Lap 22